Who Has Access To Your Cloud Storage & How Can You Make It Safer?

Cloud storage is a wonder of the modern age, it is simple to save and access information from almost any device nearly anywhere in the world. There are some steps you should take in order to ensure that your personal information and data remains private.

Passwords Are Not Just There To Annoy You

Passwords are one of the top annoyances of the technological age. It seems that every single site you access requires you to have one. There is nothing more annoying than being locked out of your content because you’ve forgotten which password you used but, despite their annoyance, passwords are there to protect your data.

In order to ensure the most secure password, you must not use obvious names, places or dates that a hacker (or anyone else for that matter) might guess simply by knowing a few things about you. Most sites recommend using a string of characters and numbers with various uncommon capitalizations to make it harder for the password to be cracked.

Using A Different Password For Every Site

Additionally, many people tend to use the same password for all their logins, which puts you at considerable risk if one of the passwords are compromised. There are steps you can take to limit the impact of passwords on your life while protecting yourself and your data at the same time. The old school method of simply writing the passwords down on a piece of paper kept in a safe place is the best. If you want to go high tech, there are programs that will maintain and protect your passwords or even generate new passwords for you on a regular basis.

The Encryption Is Key

Another simple way to protect your data in the cloud is to encrypt it before sending it on. While it may sound like a complicated task, data encryption can be handled quite simply by using one of several programs out there. In some cases, your cloud storage provider may even offer that as part of your subscription. Be sure to ascertain the exact manner of encryption used, and whether it only encrypts certain types of file. In some cases, encryption programs and services will only encrypt certain things, leaving the rest unprotected.

Another vital aspect to ensure the safety of your files in the cloud is to only allow yourself access. If your family also requires cloud storage, be sure to select a provider that offers multiple users on one account with each user creating their own password and only having access to their personal files. We would all like to trust in our family to always do the right thing, but the more people that can access your information, the greater the chance someone will slip up and your data will become compromised.

Who Else Might Be Able To Access Your Data

Don’t forget that your cloud storage provider has employees and, in the course of their normal work, they may be able to access your data. At times this is helpful as you may forget or lose a password and need these employees to restore your access to the content.

Hackers might also be able to gain access to your stored information as well, some of the times these hackers are just trying to expose holes in security and have no interest in causing you harm. More often than not though, these hackers are looking for information that will give them access to your personal information, such as bank accounts or other personal accounts.

The Best Defense Is A Good Offense

This old adage couldn’t be more true when it comes to cloud storage. The best way to protect yourself is to remain proactive in keeping passwords updated and secure, limiting access and encrypting your files. The other important factor is choosing the right cloud storage provider that has the features and security that work best for you. Our panel of experts has created a table highlighting the best cloud storage providers for you to make the best possible decision.